Desperate Measures, Desperate Treasures
by zeshadesofjustice
Summary: Sequel to Desperate Times, Desperate Measures. What happens after the war? What happens to Ginny and her baby? How does her family take the news of her relationship with Severus?


This is the sequal to Desperate Times, Desperate Measures. I really left some questions open there (as I did with this one), and felt like I should keep writing. Plus, I have discovered I like writing Sev and Ginny together, so.. yeah.

0oBellina0o and paulaa90, here you go. ;)

* * *

Cold air settled around her, taking away the warmth that had lulled her into sleep. She gave a soft whimper, pulling the covers tighter about her, and paused when they moved too easily. The person that was supposed to be right next to her wasn`t there, and as soon as she realized it, all sense of comfort left her. It would do no good to pursue sleep any longer, so she sat up, leaning against the headboard with pillows behind her to keep her back from hurting.

'_What if someone broke into the house? What if he was summoned by the Ministry? What if he`s been killed? How can I go on without him?' _The thoughts came unbidden, ones that she wished wouldn`t have come. They worried her more, made her want to go find her husband, but she had promised him that she would do no such thing if she were alone.

And right now she wouldn`t be able to go after him, what with the state she was in. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and pressed her thumbs against the lids gently, thinking of everything that had gone on since this had happened last.

**IIIII**

_She woke up, feeling something was off. There was no noise at all, except for her own breathing. She could smell smoke, taste its acrid bite, but knew there was no fire in the precise place she was. There was nothing to give her a hint of where she was…nothing except for a letter on a tiny table next to the bed. Her name was written across the front of it in very familiar handwriting, and her heart picked up its pace as she feared the worst. _

"_If you`re reading this, the attack on the school either has begun or is about to. I hate to exclude you from the battle, for I know how much you wish to help your friends in our just cause. But please, please, please, Ginevra. Understand why I have hidden you, and forgive me. I cannot risk your life out on the front lines, and I cannot risk our child`s life either. I would rather have you alive and mad at me for denying you than dead and able to quarrel with me no longer. When it is safe again, I will come for you. Until then, _

_Severus."_

_[*]_

_When she heard voices coming near, she stood up, moving closer to the door. They were familiar, but they weren`t ones she was wanting to hear the most at the moment. Slowly, she stepped back again, watched the knob twist. The faces that greeted her were distraught but lit up at the sight of her, as she hoped hers did too. Fred and George stood there, really stood there! She threw herself forward, hugging both in turn, and stiffened when they noticed the change in her physique. _

"_Ginny, what –" They started as one, but she cut them off._

"_I`ll explain later, when we`ve got the whole family together. There are more important things at the moment…" She looked from one to the other, saw the grim expressions return. "Severus said he would come get me, but you`re here instead. Something went wrong, didn`t it?"_

_They looked at each other, and then back to her, and she knew that they were wondering what had happened between she and the professor, but they didn`t ask about that. Fred was the one who spoke. "Snape was attacked by the snake. He isn`t expected to live through the hour, much less the night."_

_[*]_

_They practically carried her to the Great Hall, where most of the school was gathered. Everywhere, nothing was as it used to be. There were stretchers all throughout the giant room, with most of the occupants on the stretchers dead or close to dying. She didn`t register the faces of anybody, dead or alive, as she passed, even though she faintly heard Harry and Hermione call her name. Her focus was on one man and one man alone._

_She wrenched herself free from her brothers, demanded that they let her walk, and picked up her pace as she spotted familiar black robes spread on the ground. A sob wracked her body as she saw him and she collapsed at his side; his left side. His neck was torn and mangled, his hands bloody, as though he had tried to staunch the bleeding. She looked at his chest earnestly, hoping to see it rise and fall, but it didn`t. Behind her, her family looked on in confusion, but sorrow was clearly written on their faces. _

_Reaching over him, she took his right hand and put her fingers on the wrist, feeling for a pulse. Her efforts were rewarded; it was faint, but it was there. _

_She sagged with relief, knowing deep within herself that if he was still breathing now, he would keep doing so. He wasn`t going to leave her alone._

_[*]_

_It was morning. The ceiling in the Great Hall showed sun, piercing through a slight haze; it was a definite improvement from the night before, when the fire and smoke that filled the sky were reflected there. She was glad that she hadn`t been in there to see it. The thought of an absence made her realize she was no longer on the ground, where she had fallen asleep. She was on a makeshift cot, and she couldn`t see Severus. Her entire family was huddled around her, watching her. Harry and Hermione stood with them, sharing their worried and simultaneously angry expressions._

_Her mother worried her the most – she seldom saw the mixture of emotions within the gentle woman, but when she did…well, she knew to stay out of the way. Right now, though, there was no way that could happen. _

"_You have NO idea how disappointed in you I am, Ginevra! Unwed, underage, and PREGNANT!" Molly`s tone made her daughter wince. "And then when your brothers find you, you completely ignore us to see if Snape was still alive! None of you EVER even liked him! Some of your own family could be DEAD and you –" _

"_Molly! Calm down!" Arthur put a hand on his wife`s shoulder. "Give her a chance to explain." _

_Ginny was afraid to look at anyone, but forced herself to give her dad a small smile of gratitude. She sat up so she could see everyone, and held out her left hand. The gold band there caught the light, shining. "I am married, Mum. To…to Professor Snape."_

_A shocked crowd looked back to her, disbelief written on their faces. _

"_But you hated him! And everything he did!" Ron was the first to speak._

"_I…I did, Ron. Until I found out the truth about him." She looked down._

"_And when where you going to tell us? Were you just going to show up on our doorstep with the child in tow?" Molly`s eyes were cool; she clearly disapproved of the union. Ginny could tell that her mother was acting like this for another reason…Molly assumed she had gotten pregnant and that was why they had married. Ginny sighed, knowing it was going to do little good if she tried to explain. "Why him?"_

"_Mrs. Weasley, you know what I saw. He…he isn`t the person we thought he was…" Harry kept his eyes on Ginny as he spoke; she felt herself blushing slightly, still ashamed of how she had pushed him away before. She didn`t regret her decision, because she loved Severus, but it was still awkward between the two of them._

"_A person`s mind and opinions on someone cannot be changed in just a day because of a string of memories, Harry," the woman snapped. "You couldn`t at least ask our permission first?" _

_Ginny`s temper flared as she looked at the circle of the people she loved the most, saw that their judgments clouded their reason, and she got to her feet, pushing past them. Until they were ready to accept her choices, she was going to stay away from them. She had a husband to find._

_[*]_

_He was in pain, so much pain. It hurt her to know that, and to not be able to take it away. This was a different kind than what he had suffered during the war. Then, it was because of what his 'master' had him do. This time, it was because of what his 'master' had done to him. She couldn`t kiss him and make him forget it all for a while, nor could she murmur soft words to him to soothe him. Instead, all she could do was change his bandages and give the antidote that the healers from St. Mungo`s had given her, thanking Merlin that he had helped create it when her father had been bitten by Nagini. _

_[*]_

_Three months later, she sat at the edge of the bed as he stood up, waiting to see if he was going to say anything else about his conversation with her family. It didn`t appear that he planned to, for he stood in a stony silence, staring at the floor. They stayed like that for several minutes before she got up and walked to him. "Severus," she said as she took one of his large hands in hers. "They`ll come around."_

_[*]_

_Snow had been falling for three days straight. Ginny shifted away from the window, her gaze returning to the bed she had gotten up from just a little while ago. The weather was keeping her confined; if it were pleasant, she would be able to walk outside. But as luck would have it, she could only move about the house. _

_With a soft sigh, she made her way slowly out the door and down a flight of stairs. Malfoy Manor was a place far too large for a single man, and now that she and Severus were here visiting, she understood what he had meant when telling her that. With great care she walked toward the fireplace, unable to help but wish they were at Spinner`s End. There she would feel comfortable._

_She grimaced as pain shot through her and put both of her hands on her extended belly. Though she wished she could deny it, she had had nine months to prepare for this, and she knew what was happening: she was going into labor. _

_With difficulty, she produced her patronus and sent the silver mare to find him._

_[*]_

_Hours later, through tired eyes she watched him cradle their daughter in his arms, and smiled at the soft expression that had come over his face. He looked up, feeling her watching him, and she saw a fierce protectiveness in his gaze. 'Mine,' his eyes seemed to say. And anyone who looked at the infant would be able to tell it; the hair on her head was as black as his own. _

_Ginny let her eyes drift shut as he walked closer to her, settling the baby in her arms. He seemed reluctant to do so, which amused her. He had acted as her doctor since she didn`t want to risk magical means to get to the wizarding hospital, and ever since he had first beheld the baby he hadn`t wanted to stop touching her. "We should call her Ellie," she said softly. "Eileen, but Ellie for short." _

_His lips against her skin sent a tingle through her as he placed a gentle kiss to her forehead and smoothed back a couple strands of her stray hair. "I think it`s perfect," he whispered into her ear as she drifted off to sleep._

**IIIII**

Steps came slowly toward their bedroom and she stiffened until she recognized that they belonged to Severus. He opened the door, stepped inside, and then shut it. His movements were slow as he took care to avoid waking her, until he realized that she was already awake. Clearing his throat, he went around to her side of the bed, placing one hand on her shoulder and the other on her swollen stomach.

"Where were you?" Her voice trembled slightly, even as she relaxed under the warmth of his touch. In the dark of the room it was difficult to see, but she could do so enough to make out his outline. It didn`t matter anyway, for they knew each other well enough that they didn`t have to see.

"Comforting Ellie. She had a nightmare." He squeezed her shoulder lightly and moved to the other side of the bed, slipping beneath the warmth the covers offered. After a second, he pulled his wife to him. Her back was flush against his chest, the position he liked most in days of late because he could touch her and keep a hand against her belly so that he could feel any movement.

"We need to go to my parents' home soon," she murmured softly. "It`ll be easier than them coming here to watch her when we have to leave for the hospital." It warmed her to be able to say that. Four years ago it couldn`t have been imagined. Four years ago, her family hated Severus. Now they understood what she had understood the night she learned the truth.


End file.
